Plex app turns 4th-gen Apple TV into personal media server

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  • Reply 41 of 50
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bigmc6000 View Post



    Am I the only person that uses Subler?? It's fan freakin tastic! Combine Handbrake with Subler and it does way more than Plex, even going into the metadata that isn't easily modified. All my ripped stuff looks exactly like the stuff I bought from iTunes (and, as a result, is easily searchable on Apple TV).

     

    "it does way more than Plex" -- perhaps a re-read of the earlier posts is in order. Metadata is just part of what Plex does. Does making your content play nice within Apple's iTunes walled garden then let you stream it outside of your network (as an example)? Can you stream it to your choice of non-Apple devices (TiVo, Roku, Android, etc)? Think of Plex as a format and device independent version of iTunes then throw in a few tricks like out-of-network streaming. 

     

    That said...every tool I've used in the past to add subtitltes and/or chapter titles to my ripped video has has various problems such as introducing subtle audio-video sync issues to my video files. If Subler is as great as you say, perhaps worth checking out.

  • Reply 42 of 50
    Anyone have a decent OTA TV setup? Using Plex, Tablo, or anything else?

    don't have a dedicated HTPC or mac mini so was looking for something like the Tablo solution
    https://www.tablotv.com/how-tablo-works/
    that would stream directly to a native AppleTV app (as opposed to streaming to a Mac client and mirroring with Airplay).

    Goal would be to stop switching inputs. OTA DVR functionality a plus but not a requirement. There must be something out there announced, but I just haven't seen it...
  • Reply 43 of 50
    irnchrizirnchriz Posts: 1,617member
    nolamacguy wrote: »
    iTunes doesn't support some popular video formats, requiring conversion, which is lame. Plex for Apple TV solves that problem.

    But Plex converts them on the fly every time you play them which can't be energy efficient can it? Just sayin ;)
  • Reply 44 of 50
    thewbthewb Posts: 80member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by NolaMacGuy View Post





    iTunes doesn't support some popular video formats, requiring conversion, which is lame. Plex for Apple TV solves that problem.



    It doesn't solve the problem because the Plex Media Server still has to do that conversion. It does it automatically and in realtime before streaming to the Plex app, allowing you to ignore the conversion process... unless you can't ignore it because the video quality is worse. That would be even more lame.

  • Reply 45 of 50

    Subler had some hiccups back in the 0.6x days but now it's at 1.04 I think and it's been fantastic. I add subtitles all the time and adding every lick of data from any of three sources (TVDB, iTunes, or movie database).  I usually go to addic7ed for my subtitles and have had really good success with that.  So, yeah, I'd give it a go, you just drag and drop the subtitle file in there and you're good to go.  I think they even have the batch file search worked out so you can do it on all your stuff at once.  Oh, and when you add info from iTunes it does all the chapters as well and works perfectly on my 2nd and 3rd gen Apple TVs.

     

    Yeah, I guess if you wanted to stream it off-network that would work.  I'm just not sure I'd have any use for that but if you do then I could certainly see a use for this.

  • Reply 46 of 50
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,728member
    prak1979 wrote: »
    What video formats does Plex for Apple tv support? Can it play mkv files?

    There is a free and very simple to use utility called ReMux for OS X that converts .mvk to .mp4 for iTunes Home Sharing or Airplay, very quickly, since it is a simple remux/recode app based on FFmpeg.

    http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/35968/remux

    I tried Plex today and it is a complete overkill IMHO for in-house LAN use. Apple's built in Home Sharing works great with the new Apple TV.
  • Reply 47 of 50
    pmcdpmcd Posts: 396member
    prak1979 wrote: »
    What video formats does Plex for Apple tv support? Can it play mkv files?

    Yes it does. As you know, mkv is a container for video and audio streams. If the video is h.264 and the audio AAC, for example, then Plex will remux the file on the fly. This requires no transcoding and can easily be done from a low powered server such as a NAS. Basically, the container has to contain stream encoded with the supported codecs for Plex to remux- they call this Direct Streaming. There is also Direct Playing which would come into effect if the container itself were supported. The client determines if something is transcoded, direct played or streamed. A PC running Windows for instance would pretty well Direct Play everything. Same with a Mac.
  • Reply 48 of 50
    pmcdpmcd Posts: 396member
    There is a free and very simple to use utility called ReMux for OS X that converts .mvk to .mp4 for iTunes Home Sharing or Airplay, very quickly, since it is a simple remux/recode app based on FFmpeg.

    http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/35968/remux

    I tried Plex today and it is a complete overkill IMHO for in-house LAN use. Apple's built in Home Sharing works great with the new Apple TV.

    Plex will remux on the fly, play to any number of devices anywhere in the world, has automatic metadata, etc ... It is hardly overkill for people who have devices from a variety of companies ( not just Apple). iTunes and home sharing is fine for an all Apple situation with perhaps a legacy Windows device. It doesn't really allow you to run everything from a NAS and so requires something like a Mini to be the centre of everything. Not a bad solution but PleX is also a very good option.
  • Reply 49 of 50
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,728member
    pmcd wrote: »
    Plex will remux on the fly, play to any number of devices anywhere in the world, has automatic metadata, etc ... It is hardly overkill for people who have devices from a variety of companies ( not just Apple). iTunes and home sharing is fine for an all Apple situation with perhaps a legacy Windows device. It doesn't really allow you to run everything from a NAS and so requires something like a Mini to be the centre of everything. Not a bad solution but PleX is also a very good option.

    I specifically said "it is a complete overkill IMHO for in-house LAN use"
  • Reply 50 of 50
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,728member
    pmcd wrote: »
    Plex will remux on the fly, play to any number of devices anywhere in the world, has automatic metadata, etc ... It is hardly overkill for people who have devices from a variety of companies ( not just Apple). iTunes and home sharing is fine for an all Apple situation with perhaps a legacy Windows device. It doesn't really allow you to run everything from a NAS and so requires something like a Mini to be the centre of everything. Not a bad solution but PleX is also a very good option.

    I take everything I said back. I gave Plex another go and love it. I have added a 2TB drive to my spare Mac mini (which i only use for Crush otherwise) and it is now serving up all my home ripped movies. It is far better than using iTunes and Home Sharing. Thank you for prodding me :)
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